A saga from Jamaica to Nova Scotia where a village community grows into Africaville. There is an arc of this story that springs up and over and down, like Noah’s rainbow – colored by the different families that mix and mingle and create a new family line. Starting out dark-skinned, with all the trials and tribulations piled on by society, the descendants at story’s end find a surprise as they reach back for family. Reacquainting, redefining and revisiting the prejudices of persons, places and communities – all considered settled present themselves again, in a different skin. Is everything the same or has it completely changed?

Lovely writing, well-drawn characters and all the history a reader needs to stay up with the flow of the narrative. With so many characters, which were needed to go through the many families involved in three plus generations, I would have liked a deeper dig at each, along with more time in the storyline before moving on to the next event and character. Also, it should be noted that this is an adult tale, with adult activities described in detail.

The rhythm of the telling felt unbalanced now and again, but the end felt steady, strong and hopeful – my kind of conclusion.

A sincere thanks to Jeffrey Colvin, HarperCollins Publishers and NetGalley for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Africaville by Jeffrey Colvin

Starting in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1918, this family saga carries us to 1992 with the complexities of four generations living in Canada and the U.S. It is centered around a neighborhood eventually named Africaville.

The entire story is about people being judged by where they live or lived and go to school. Heavy emphasis is placed on where to be buried, of accepting or not accepting their own race (black “passing” as white), loyalty to family and who to visit or not visit, whether far or near. Grudges are held for long periods

Most of the story is told in the third person with very little conversation or action. Much of what happens is through people’s thoughts and memories as told by the author. There is no narrator or central protagonist. People are there and then gone in the next paragraph.

I found the novel very dry not very engaging. I did not see it going anywhere for most of the story. It was a valiant effort by this author, but just didn’t do it for me.

I found Jeffrey Colvin’s “Africaville” to be an ambitious and incredibly powerfully informative read. Kath Ella and family will stay with me for a long while. I found the initial introduction of this book to be a little dense, but once the stage was set, the writing and characters took off. Definitely worth a read.

Multi-generational story of a black family and the black experience in both Canada and the United States. Identity, passing, cross-racial relationships, the importance of place, and the meaning of home. So much here.

Wikipedia "Africaville" and learn the story of the town in Nova Scotia that is the backdrop to this story. It is fascinating and a story of systemic racism that destroyed a town and displaced its residents.

Africaville in Halifax is a settlement of Jamaican people who were run out of their homes by the British. They were prisoners dumped in this cold and foreign place. Soldiers planned to ship them to Sierra Leone. Some stayed on and families settled and fever ran rampant killing babies. Kath Ella' survived. Her family eked out a living and she wanted to attend teaching school. Her best friend had other ideas. From that friendship, a series of events and relationships change the town and the lives of those who live there. Colvin weaves the story through the decades of ongoing racial prejudice and injustice. Some choose to rebel and stand up for their rights. They pay the price. Some choose to pass for white and shield their loved ones. Secrets have tragic consequences. Colvin portrays the love between characters and the tenacity of some determined to find happiness. It is a story that will stick in your mind because of the finely created characters who seem so real you find yourself talking to them while reading.

I have always hungered to know more about my ancestors and where they came from. I’ve always had a complicated relationship with my identity as an American of obvious African descent. I am relatively certain that my ancestors came to North America through the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade, I just have no idea of where we were taken and how we got to where we are today. Because of that hunger and uncertainty, I love reading stories (whether fiction or non) that follow or trace a families origins/heritage.
I honestly did not know what to expect after reading a couple of chapters of Africaville. I was raised in the US and I do not recall ever learning about blacks in Nova Scotia. Because of that, I stopped reading the book for a couple weeks so that I could research.
What I learned helped me to connect better with the book and also to understand the characters. This story mainly focuses on the lives of Kath Ella Seabolt, Omar Platt, their child Etienne, and other family members such as Omar’s mother and Etienne’s son.
It is an absolute beautifully written and heartbreaking tale of the lives some of their family’s lineage between the years of 1918-1992 and how they found their lives connected and entwined from Mississippi to Halifax.
Reading this made me realize once again, just how broad the slave trade was. Growing up in the US we are mainly only taught about slavery in the US, and very seldom learn in k-12 about the hardships that were endured by families afterwards.
Though the pace of the book is a lot more unique than other books that I have read, I thoroughly enjoyed Africaville. It has opened my eyes so much and I look forward to reading more about African descendants in Nova Scotia.

Really intriguing read from the first paragraph of the book. The area of Halifax is little-written about, and learning about the history of the area, while weaving in beautiful and heart-wrenching story lines, was an added bonus. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to review this book.